


Hoperai SuFe Flashfic

by comeonlight



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, And An Awkward Boner, F/M, Fluff, Mushy, Nonsense, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-27 06:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19784737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comeonlight/pseuds/comeonlight
Summary: Some scribbles for the GOAT ship.





	1. Day 1: Lazy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOMEBODY has to fire up the grill...

Hope can't help but admire his wife in silence for a moment. He smiles at her relaxed body, sunken into the comfortable living room chair, and the calm stillness of her face. It's a face he's seen nearly every day for the better part of the last nine years, but he finds himself in awe...frequently. Sometimes his heart goes tender with the re-realization of how much he  _ loves  _ her. He loves her so much, he almost feels bad for waking her up. But, this one is for the kids.

"Light."

It only takes the quiet sound of Hope's voice to stir Lightning from her sleep. Her eyes open without resistance, making him question whether she was really even sleeping in the first place. But she's certainly awake now, and those lovely blue eyes of hers are fixed on him. "Hey." Her voice is raspy, but gentle. It's cute in a way, especially in addition to her hair being slightly messy from sleep— wait, that's not the point. 

Hope refocuses on the reason he woke Lightning up in the first place. "It's already afternoon." Lightning blinks. Perhaps he should've given more context. "What time do you plan on starting up the grill, my love?"

Lightning closes her eyes again. "Why don't you do it?"

Hope stands baffled. He plays the words back in his mind, and still turns his head slightly in confusion. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Lightning repositions herself in her chair, getting  _ even more  _ comfortable. The chances of getting her to move have plunged. Hope scratches the back of his neck. "Oh. Well I just thought that since you're better with grilling...and you like grilling...that…"

"I'm feeling lazy," Lightning says outright. She yawns, then hums with satisfaction at her new position. "Besides, weren't  _ you  _ the one that super über cross-my-heart double pinky promised our daughter that we'd have barbecue today? It's your responsibility."

She's right. She's absolutely right. Hell, even when she's wrong, she's right. It more or less came with the whole marriage deal. Truth be told, Hope isn't as adept in the field of grilling as most other dads he knows. It's quite ironic; he's a fine cook indoors, but stepping outside and throwing something on the grill is a recipe for a narrowly missed disaster. When push comes to shove, he'll do it of course...but when it's his baby girl's request, he'll do anything to minimize the chances of screwing it up. And truth be told, that laziness Lightning mentioned seems to be a tad contagious.

A grin appears on Hope's face: the confident, self-congratulatory grin of a man who's found a solution that will allow him to have his cake — or, slab of ribs in this case — and eat it too. Right, right. Why should Hope, a walking hazard around the grill, risk ruining dinner when Lebreau is most certainly cooking up something marvelous at the restaurant not ten minutes' driving distance from the house? Furthermore, Hope never super über cross-my-heart double pinky promised that  _ he'd  _ cook, only that tonight's dinner would be barbecue. It's an excellent plan.

"You're going to call Lebreau," Lightning says, borderline sighing. Hope's smirk falls flat. She can't be  _ that  _ disappointed in him, right? She knows he's mediocre at best with the grill…on a good day. “I mean… Light, you know I’m—”

“Oh, I’m not criticizing you,” Lightning says. “Go on. You wouldn’t want to disappoint the kids. Better call before they wake up from nap time. You know NORA’s gets busy around now.” Is she...guilting him? Is that what’s happening? Any trace of smugness Hope had before is gone now, leaving him to fret over what to do. There’s so much on the line: his honor, his wife’s opinion of him, whether the kids will smile or cry during dinner… Why can’t he just have it all?

Wait a minute.

He  _ can  _ have it all. He’s Hope freaking Estheim. If he could build a planet once upon a time, surely he can figure out how to prepare tasty barbecue for his beloved family. “I’m firing up the grill!” Hope softly exclaims, and Lightning smirks. This was totally her plan all along. Well, it certainly worked.

“Good luck,” Lightning says, closing her eyes. Hope’s heart flutters a little, partially from that smile but mostly because this is the first time he’ll be using the grill unattended. Well, he never burned a lab down. Hopefully the same will go for his house.


	2. Day 2: Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start to a perfectly gross vacation.

“...Please ensure that your seatbelt is securely fastened before we make our descent. The flight attendants are currently…”

Lightning tunes out the mandatory announcement, quite used to the whole deal from her short flights to various shoot locations. One of the biggest downsides to being a popular model has got to be hopping on a plane, settling enough to get exactly a wink of sleep, and then hearing the descent announcement. At least this time, the flight isn’t work-related. Thank goodness it isn’t; getting cozy in a fancy hotel with her husband would not be conducive to any productivity, to put it mildly.

“I can see it from here,” Hope says with his face practically pressed against the window. At cruising altitude, he’s watching a movie or reading, but closer to the ground he’s completely wrapped up in the view of the buildings below. “No wonder it’s called the Sky Castle.” Hope sits back in his seat and Lightning looks past him at the noon skyline.

While not in the shape of the castles people read about in medieval fiction novels, the Sky Castle does give off a fortress-like vibe with its four white towers stretching into the sky like pillars of light. It wouldn't surprise Lightning if the clouds floating around the very top of the building cleared to reveal a giant decoration in the image of Bhunivelze, though that would certainly put a damper on their vacation.

The plane tilts from side to side as it closes in on the runway. Lightning checks her watch. 12:08. That means they’ll probably be out of the airport by 12:45 and checked in to the hotel by 1:30, giving them about four hours to laze about until dinner at 5:30. And then...a trip to the hotel’s spa at 9:00, if memory serves. She’d told Hope what she wanted to do during their visit and left building the itinerary to him. He prides himself on his spreadsheet-making skills, after all.

The wheels of the airplane hit the pavement with a rumble and the pilot speaks over the intercom: “Highwind Airlines welcomes you to Scala ad Caelum. The local time is 12:09. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle clear until we are parked at the gate.”

* * *

1:22. Lightning doesn’t know what possessed Hope to book a room on the  _ fortieth floor _ when he could have saved over a thousand gil by getting an identical room on the nearly equally ridiculous twentieth floor, but she can’t complain about the view. The glass wall of the suite’s lounge lets her see everything from the three-story reception building of the hotel to the pristine blue water of the sea to Scala’s famous ferris wheel to its even more famous art museum to its  _ yet more famous  _ shopping mall. One of them, anyway. There are a bunch of other fancy-looking buildings — probably a bunch of tourist attractions — and really, the whole place is just plain gaudy. Or, that’s what Lightning would say if it weren’t so hospitable and undeniably good-looking from the cohesive architecture to the spotless streets to the apparent color coordination between the sky, the sea, and the city. On the way to the hotel, an elderly couple had stopped Lightning and Hope on the street to ask where they were visiting from, and while Lightning isn’t a fan of small talk nor has she ever been, the conversation was surprisingly not annoying and one of the old men even gave her a coupon for one of the restaurants she’d asked Hope to make note of.

Without warning, Hope hugs Lightning from behind and lightly sways from side to side. “Hey, Light?” Lightning smirks. She knows exactly what he’s going to say, but humors him all the same. “Yes, Hope?”

“You know I love you, right?”

Lightning’s smirk grows a little wider despite her desire to roll her eyes at how cheesy this situation is. “I know. I know you’re totally gross about it, too.”

“Am I, now?” Hope rests his chin on Lightning’s shoulder and joins her in looking out at the magnificent city. He sighs. “Wow.”

Lightning quirks her brow. “‘Wow?’ I was expecting some ‘It’s no Academia’ comment.”

“That’s not what I was wowwing at,” Hope says before planting a kiss on Lightning’s cheek.

Lightning leans back against Hope, gently rocking with him. Taking an extravagant vacation in a city plastered all over magazines, staying on the fortieth floor of the second tallest building in the country — it’s certainly the most over-the-top thing she’s done (in this world, anyway). It’s gross in its own way, too. Of course, not as gross as a private lovey-dovey moment with her husband. Disgusting. But hey, gross doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. “So gross,” Lightning says. “Just the way I like it.”


	3. Day 3: Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting sweaty in this summer heat...

“Hope…please. Hope,  _ please.  _ I can’t take this anymore.” Lightning takes off her tank top to dab at the droplets of sweat on her forehead that  _ just won’t stop.  _ Of course, it doesn’t help that her shirt is already practically soaked. If not for her bra — her poor, drenched bra — her tank would be all but submerged.  _ “Hope, fix the AC.”  _

Hope doesn’t know how to break it to his suffering wife that the AC is in fact functioning, and furthermore that it’s on full blast. Not that it isn’t still hot — oh,  _ it is —  _ but for her to be sweating this much, Lightning clearly has some sort of fever. It’s certainly not normal for Lightning to be  _ moaning Hope’s name  _ when they’re not even getting busy, be it out of suffering or anything else. Not when he’s present, anyway. The vocalizations certainly aren’t helping Hope’s own sweaty situation  _ but that’s not the point—  _ “Uh, Light? How about I take your temperature—”

“Fix the damn AC first. I’m  _ dying, Hope.”  _ Sheesh. Hope opens up the cooler he’d ended up lugging to their bedside and fetches a fifth handful of ice cubes. Lightning extends her hands; Hope gives her the ice. It’s only seconds before half the ice is in Lightning’s mouth and the other half is in various places all over her body. “...Light, I think you’re sick. I’m gonna go see what medicine we have.”   
Hope stands up, much to Lightning’s protest. “Nooo, Hope, the AC. Why are you doing this to me?  _ Please don’t make me wait any longer.  _ My hands are too sticky to fix it… Water.” Lightning swipes the water bottle off her nightstand, only to find it empty. Hope reaches deep into his pocket with one hand and takes a plastic water bottle out of the cooler with the other. “Here.” He hands the bottle to Lightning, who struggles with the cap for a few seconds before managing to take it off as violently as one can possibly remove a plastic cap. “Honey, the AC is working. It’s on max right now. I’m going to get you some medicine to make you feel better, so wait here. Okay?”

Lightning glares at Hope. Usually, this would instill the fear of having fucked up royally, but in this case the menacing glare seems more like a cute pout. Hope pats the top of Lightning's head and scurries away to the kitchen to take a breath. At the very least, she didn’t question why he suddenly shoved his hand into his pocket. Now, if he could find a better solution to hiding his  _ problem  _ that would be great, but first things first. Thankfully, the medicine cabinet is one of the most organized places in the house and the meds are easy to find—

“Hoooope,  _ Hoooope,  _ I’m  _ hoooot.”  _ Hope takes a deep breath. Whatever happens, he needs to get Lightning this medicine ASAP. “Coming, Light.”  _ “Gahhh, you better be!”  _ Not helping. Hope sets three pills on a napkin and clutches it for dear life. He makes a mad dash for the bedroom, only to be greeted by a frosty wind at his destination. Lightning smiles at him, still thoroughly flushed but apparently relieved.  _ “Hope, I had no clue there was a Limit Break setting.”  _ Hope bites his lip, silently hoping that Lightning won’t say another word. Luck would have it, of course, that Lightning happens to glance down. “What’s that in your pants, Honey?”


	4. Day 4: Camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, Lightning and Hope have ended up as chaperones on a field trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by hehaihohum's teacher AU. [I highly recommend checking it out.](https://hehaihohum.tumblr.com/tagged/teacher_au)

“So, why are we here again?” Lightning asks. At first Hope thinks she’s talking to someone else, but a quick glance around reveals that they’re the only two people in the cabin. “Um…” _What a great way to start off._ Hope scratches his head. “I mean, I’m assuming they assigned you to chaperone this field trip because you’re the newest teacher. No one exactly _wants_ to get stuck with a hundred students out here in the wild. And me, well...” Why _did_ they send the chemistry teacher on a trip about...wait, what’s the field trip even about? Camping, so-called, in the middle of some woods for the purpose of...it was something P.E., right?

“Maybe it’s because you’re popular with the students,” Lightning suggests. Hope gives a smile that almost certainly looks deranged due to his surprise. “Me?” “They’re practically swarming you all the time,” Lightning says. “At least that’s what I see.” Now that she mentions it, the students do have a _lot_ of questions. Though, recently they’re more geared toward his love life, for whatever reason. He could swear he’s been asked what he thinks of pink hair at least once every day this week.

...Wait.

Hope stares at Lightning in silent realization. Have his students been trying to set him up with the new French teacher? No, no way. Where in the world would they get that ridiculous idea? He and Lightning mostly only see each other in passing and in the teachers’ lounge. They’ve shared a few coffees and some laughs and exchanged phone numbers (solely for work purposes, of course), and sometimes end up having long conversations after school, yes, but that does not merit—

“Are you okay?” Lightning asks. Hope does his best to collect himself. “Oh. Yes. I just...had a thought. Anyway, I suppose I should go check up and make sure Fang and Snow aren’t burning the forest down.” Lightning smiles at that comment. They both share the sentiment that Fang and Snow make a powerful but potentially disastrous duo. It’s probably a good thing that the nurse got sent along too. Speaking of which, Hope hasn’t seen Noel since they got off the bus. Knowing him, he’s either trying to set up wi-fi or checking out what's on tonight's menu. Either way, Hope can catch up when he inevitably sprains his ankle on a hike or walks right through a patch of poison ivy.

“Adieu,” Hope says, taking his leave. He pretty much got pushed into the girls’ cabin by his students, but it wouldn’t be a great idea for him to stick around for too long. “À bientôt,” Lightning corrects him with a small wave. What did that mean again? Hope really needs to learn more French words. As he steps outside, Fang finishes addressing the students about conduct.

“Remember, you signed a waiver. If you go wandering off and die from eatin’ poison berries, we’re not held legally accountable. Now, everyone get ready to cook. Remember: You don’t lend a hand, you don’t eat!” That last part definitely wasn’t in any of the paperwork, but Fang has a point. Everyone should help out. On that note, Hope joins the bustle of dinner preparations, only to near-immediately be hounded by students.

“I saw that you were talking with Mademoiselle Farron inside the girls’ cabin,” Emina, Lightning’s student, asks. “What about?” Two other girls, Aoi and Sayo, join in: “Yeah, what about?” _Oh boy._

“We were just talking about how in the world we got stuck with you bunch of nosy rascals,” Hope says, looking around for a portable grill while the girls gather utensils and cooking spray. “We’re nosy,” Sayo says. “That means we’re on the trail of something juicy.” “You should visit her again tonight,” Aoi suggests.

Hope finds the grill and sets it on a table, then Aoi hands him some cooking spray. Is this _really_ camping? “I’m pretty sure that’s a violation of all sorts of rules.” “L’amour n’a point de loi, Monsieur Estheim,” Emina says, and all three girls smirk. Hope sprays the grill. “I don’t know what you just said, but I don’t like it.” Aoi waves at another student carrying meat and tofu. “Don’t worry, Mister Estheim. Between us, Miwa, and Coach Yun, and...oh, Miss Lebreau didn’t come along, did she? Well, we’ve got you covered.” It looks like Hope can expect some shenanigans after dinner…

* * *

Or, _during_ dinner. Several male students shot him dirty looks when he sat down only to be immediately surrounded by some of the most popular girls in school, but those looks quickly transformed into giant grins when Emina called Lightning over to take the empty seat the students had saved for her. And that’s how Hope ended up having a very awkward dinner across from one confused, gorgeous French instructor.

The meal is nearly silent as far as actual words go, but the students’ anticipation lingering in the air is like its own conversation. Occasionally Hope glances at Lightning, or Lightning glances at Hope. Whenever it happens, the students near them take a collective breath. When they finally glance at each other at the same time, the sound of a single unsilenced phone taking a photo prompts them to give proper attention to their meals once more. “Dammit, Oruto!” a student hisses from somewhere down the long table. That breaks some of the tension. Enough for Hope to let out a small laugh, at least, which moves Lightning to do the same, and because of that single moment, _maybe_ all this awkwardness has been worth it.

* * *

“A guts challenge? That sounds like a bad idea,” Hope advises. Of course, this only prompts a cluster of students to present him with an official document of authorization signed by Oerba Yun Fang, Snow Villiers, and Noel Kreiss. With some persuasion, namely telling himself that he ought to double-check that the path isn’t dangerous, Hope eventually agrees to be the guinea pig for the challenge. And _that’s_ how he ends up on a pitch dark path in the middle of the woods. With Lightning.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Lightning says, shining a flashlight on Hope. It’s about ninety-nine percent likely that the students set this up. “Likewise,” Hope says. Before he can even ask why Lightning is taking the challenge, she explains, “The nurse offered me a bed in the clinic if I took the guts challenge. It’s a lot quieter in there and Fang doesn’t seem to need my help keeping the girls under control, so I figured I might as well.” Dammit, Noel.

“That’s a pretty good deal,” Hope says. “I just kind of… Well, let’s say the students have excellent persuasion skills. Now, shall we?” He activates the flashlight on his phone and shines it on the manmade path through the woods. Lightning steps forward. “I’ll lead. I trust you can watch our backs?”

“Watch our backs?” Hope asks, following close behind as Lightning walks. “There’s nothing in these woods but some squirrels and birds.” _“Exactly,”_ Lightning says. She steps over a scraggly tree root. “Watch your step. It’s night, so we probably won’t run into anything. I haven’t heard any owls.”

“You don’t seem like a stranger to this sort of thing,” Hope comments. He looks over his shoulder. The lights from camp are already just barely visible. Soon enough, the only guide back will be the path. Or, an extremely good sense of direction. “I was in the military for a few years,” Lightning says nonchalantly. “Great for fitness, but they moved me around too much. Serah was elated when I decided to teach.” Hope thinks back to Serah’s glee in the teachers’ lounge when Lightning got hired. “Yeah, she sure was.”

The pair walks farther down the path, approaching a bridge which also serves as a midway point. “It’s actually not that scary,” Hope thinks out loud. “Of course not,” Lightning replies. “If you’ve got me and I’ve got you, what’s there to be afraid of?” The words practically knock the wind out of Hope. Him suddenly tripping as soon as he steps onto the bridge and falling on his side actually _does_ knock the wind out of him.

“Hope!” Lightning kneels at Hope’s side as he wipes dirt off his sleeve. “What was that?” “Just me being clumsy,” Hope says, standing up only for his ankle to twist and send him right back to the ground. “...Ow.” Lightning shines her flashlight on the injury and examines it with a stern look. For a moment Hope thinks she’s upset with him, but with an adjustment of his own flashlight, he can see that it’s simply concern. “I’ll be fine. Sorry to make you worry.”

“Get on my back,” Lightning says decisively.

“...Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Get on my back.”

Hope tries to put weight on his ankle again. Bad idea. He hisses from the pain. Lightning seems pretty insistent, too… “Okay.” Hope puts his hands on Lightning’s shoulders and lifts his knees as she stands and secures his legs. She does it so easily; just how strong is this woman? “Well,” Lightning says, beginning to walk. “I imagine the students will get a kick out of this. They’ve been trying to set us up, you know.”

Something in Hope’s stomach stirs like crazy, and he’s pretty sure it’s not the dinner. “I don’t know where they get these ridiculous ideas.” That’s when Lightning gets sassy with him. After all, he’s more or less her prisoner for now. “I don’t know, Hope, where could they have _possibly_ gotten the idea? Maybe it’s because we have lunch together in the lounge all the time? Or maybe because you can’t be stealthy to save your life and walk in slow-motion whenever you pass my classroom? Or is it because we smile like idiots when we see each other in the hall? The way we get carried away talking about nothing during after-school duty? I haven’t a clue.”

Hope thanks whatever entities may be up above that Lightning can’t see his face right now. “Gee, why don’t you just embarrass people for a living? You’ve sure got the talent.”

“For goodness’ sake, call me Light.” Then Lightning bursts out into laughter, and it may just be the most beautiful thing Hope has ever heard.

* * *

Noel nearly has to barricade the entrance to the clinic cabin to keep prying students out, and that’s _before_ the news about his deal with Lightning inevitably leaks. In the relatively peaceful time before that happens, he’ll simply tend to his patient, as is his duty. “It’s a sprain. A pretty nasty sprain, but it’ll heal up fine. Now, lie back and let the nurse do his job.”

“Heh. Alright.” Hope reclines in his bed, and Lightning remains seated on the one next to him. She doesn’t say anything immediately, even though there are certainly... _words..._ that should be...enunciated. Are they “a thing” or whatever the kids say? Hope could use an answer to that question in particular; the students will grill him the moment Noel cracks open a window. Maybe he should ask Lightning — no, _Light —_ to teach him the infamous razor-sharp Farron glare. Serah had said it wasn’t a teachable thing, but…

“Tu es libre pour le dîner samedi?” Hope has no idea what Lightning just said — something about Libra? — but she’s smiling. If he weren't already here, that smile alone could probably send Hope to the clinic.

“Uh...Oui?”

It seems that was a satisfactory answer. Lightning nods. “Alright, then. It’s a date.”


End file.
